For the 50 Greatest Albums, we itemized the crème de la crème of the past 20 years—from usual suspects to sleepers across genres—and got to Jinsu-ing. Even freshman LPs weren’t discriminated against if worthy (see: our two cover guys). We pressed play, assessed the questionable projects and sipped the classics with a teaspoon of nostalgia, giving flawless albums slot boosts. Those that proved groundbreaking ranked higher, and those with skippable tracks dropped low. Through the raucous debates, the body of work always spoke loudest.

Alas, the best of the best reside here. Consider this our gold-embossed stamp.